5/15/1994 --BYRON NELSON -- Neal Lancaster talks to the remaining crowd at 18 after winning the Byron Nelson. Byron Nelson is at left clapping for him. The winner's trophy is in front, and Lancaster's name will be engraved on the big trophy. (Ken Geiger/The Dallas Morning News)

Lancaster’s victory was clouded by the rain, mud and funnel clouds that
plagued the event. Gripped in Mother Nature's headlock, the “Half Nelson” made
history. The tournament with the fewest holes played ended with the co-largest
playoff in Tour history — a half dozen players.

Twenty years after Lancaster birdied the first playoff hole, the “Half
Nelson’’ remains his only victory.

“I’ve thought about it a lot over the years,’’ he said. “That win was great
for me. It was such a crazy week.’’

Though there’s a 60 percent chance of rain Tuesday and a 30 percent chance
Wednesday, forecasts call for the 2014 HP Byron Nelson Championship to be played
under mostly sunny skies.

When players arrived in 1994, they were greeted by typical monsoon conditions
for the Nelson, which had been disrupted by weather 20 times in the previous 26
years.

Two inches of rain had already fallen. So when a storm dumped 2 more inches
Wednesday night, the saturated grounds flooded.

The only birdies on Thursday were the helicopters hovering over seven
fairways that were deemed unplayable. Officials announced shortly after noon
that the event would be reduced from 72 to 54 holes, as it had in 1990 and
1992.

With rain on Friday, it was decided to put the Four Season’s other course,
Cottonwood Valley, in play. All golfers played at least 26 holes on Saturday
under sunny skies until 6:40 p.m., when play was halted by rain and
lightning.

Ben Crenshaw, David Ogrin, Brad Bryant and Mark Carnevale led at 8 under but
had not completed their second rounds. Lancaster was at 7 under through 34
holes, tied with Tom Byrum of Fort Worth (30 holes) and David Edwards (31). They
were one shot up on a group that included No. 1 Greg Norman. Thirty-four players
were at 4 under or better, creating a wide-open finish.

“I had fun from opening splash to almost getting hit by lightning,’’ Ogrin
said.

With players in various stages of second rounds on separate courses,
confusion reigned among players as to who stood where.

“I didn’t know I was this close. I’m tied for the lead?’’ Bryant said.

Lancaster, meanwhile, birdied 15 and 16 before the siren sounded.

“Every time you teed it up, you felt like it was going to be your last,’’ he
recalled. “We didn’t know how many holes we were going to play.’’

On Sunday, Lancaster drained a 60-foot putt on 17, then hit 9-iron to 4 feet
for birdie on 18. He was happy when told the event was being reduced to 36 holes
because that guaranteed him a big check.

“I knew when I made those birdies I’d have a good shot to finish in the top
five, which is what I was looking for because we figured we weren’t going to be
play anymore,’’ he said. “It looked like I was going to be in a playoff, but it
would be an hour and a half until everybody finished.’’

Like Lancaster, Ogrin (30 feet) and Carnevale (10 feet) birdied their final
holes to tie Lancaster. Rookie Yoshinori Mizumaki of Japan missed a 6-foot putt
on his final hole, Cottonwood’s No. 9, to win the title outright.

The number of players warming up for the playoff on the driving range kept
increasing. Finally, Lancaster was joined by Ogrin, Edwards, Byrum, Carnevale
and Mizumaki.

Although he had never won, Lancaster liked his chances because the playoff
would start on 18, which he had birdied earlier.

“When everybody was warming up on the driving range, I told my caddie, ‘I’m
only going to hit two shots; I’m going to hit a driver and a 9-iron just like I
did on the 18th hole because when you’ve got six guys playing, we’re probably
only going to play one hole.

“I hit two shots, everybody else warmed up, went through their routines. I
sat down on the bench and just waited for them to tell me when it was time to
go. Then it was driver and 9-iron just as I planned, and I made birdie and it
was over.’’

Lancaster said he landed his playoff drive within 2 feet of the one he hit
earlier. With a similar yardage, 147, he launched his 9-iron to 4 feet behind
the hole.

Standing over the same downhill putt with a slight left-to-right break for
the win, Lancaster said he had trouble getting his putter in motion.

“I was really nervous,’’ he said. “The best thing about that putt was it was
downhill so I just had to get it started. I just eased it down there and it went
right in the middle. It was my time.’’

For Lancaster, the $216,000 payday was almost more than he could comprehend.
He sloshed through three holes on Sunday, taking only eight shots, which
translates to $27,000 per.

Five years before, he had embarked on his golfing career with $98 in his
pocket and a beat-up van from his dad’s used-car dealership.

“Cuz,’’ as he is known because that’s what he called caddies whose names he
could not remember, played mini-tours and state opens in Texas, California and
Utah.

Four months later, he returned home with about $90,000. He used some of that
to pay for Q-School, earned his card but then lost it that first year. After
another trip to Q-School, he kept his card for 17 years.

His goal was never to strike it rich. Rather, he loved the competition.

Despite shoulder and neck injuries, Lancaster was a study in longevity. He
takes the most pride at having made 350 cuts.

Since turning 50, Lancaster has only conditional status on the Champions
Tour, which requires either two PGA Tour victories or $9 million in career
earnings for exemption.

His best chance for that second victory came at the 2002 Canadian Open. After
playing 71 holes without a bogey, he made double-bogey from the fairway on the
72nd hole, then lost on the first hole of a playoff with Justin Leonard and
eventual winner John Rollins.

At 51, he and his wife have two daughters, ages 31/2 and 5 months.

“My goal was never to win a lot of money,’’ Lancaster said. “When they told
me there was a retirement plan and I found out how good it was, my goal was to
make cuts. I said, ‘If I can play every week and keep making cuts, then I would
be financially secure the rest of my life.’’’

Whatever happened to …

The six players who comprised the playoff field at the 1994 GTE Byron Nelson
Classic — tied for the biggest playoff in Tour history:

Tom Byrum — One PGA Tour win: 1989 Kemper Open

Mark Carnevale — One Tour win: 1992 Chattanooga Classic

David Edwards — Four wins, 65 top-10s on PGA Tour

David Ogrin — 32 top-10s, one win (1996 Texas Open)

Yoshinori Mizumaki — Seven wins in Japan, only two years on
PGA Tour

Neal
Lancaster

Secured the only victory of his Tour
career with 4-foot birdie putt at No. 18 (left), the first playoff
hole.

IN THE KNOW

Neal Lancaster

Age: 51

Residence: Smithfield, N.C.

Career earnings: $6,312,668

Family: Wife Ashley; daughters Gabrielle, Elizabeth

Interests: Fishing, auto racing, movies

Notable: Posted 32 top-10 finishes in 18 full seasons on PGA
Tour. … Shot 29 for nine holes in a U.S. Open in 1995 (Shinnecock Hills) and
1996 (Oakland Hills), the first two times it ever happened. … Earned conditional
status on Champions Tour last year, finishing sixth (four spots available) at
Q-School. … Took his first lesson in 1992, his third year on Tour, from L.B.
Floyd, father of Raymond Floyd.

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